Information on John Armstrong

3. JOHN3 ARMSTRONG (WILLIAM2, JOHN1) was born Bet. 1731 - 1732 in Langholm, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and died 24 Jun 1801 in Mercer County KY. He married PRISCILLA MCDONALD Abt. 1758 in Virginia, possibly Augusta County., daughter of BRYAN MCDONALD. She died 25 Jan 1818 in Mercer County KY.

Notes for JOHN ARMSTRONG:
The brothers William, John, and Lanty Armstrong were born in Scotland and came to Colonial America, passing through Pennsylvania in 1742 on the way to Virginia to buy land. In her 2001 addendum to "Armstrongs of the Catawba," Norma Cansler states that it was their father, William Armstrong, who first purchased land in Colonial Virginia:

"William Armstrong - b. 1699-1703 Langholm, Dumfriesshire, Scotland; d. 1750+. Married Susanna Blythe 11 October 1724 Kirkandrews-on-Esk, Cumbria, England. He immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1742, and on 30 July 1742 purchased 100 acres on a west branch of the James River called Catawba Creek in addition to 200 acres on Mill Creek in Borden's Grant from Benjamin Borden, Sr. contracted for by John McDowell."

By the 1750's, records in Colonial Virginia show that the brothers had acquired other land in and around Augusta County. They had received land warrants from the House of Burgesses for service in the French and Indian War. John was later a soldier in the American Revolution and then served in various militias in Virginia, reaching the rank of Captain.

In 1784 John Armstrong and his brother William moved their families from Virginia to Kentucky to join the Salt River settlement in what was then Lincoln County (now Mercer County). The Salt River settlement had been started in 1779 by the McAfee brothers and others who preceded the Armstrongs in the westward move from the Catawba Creek area of Virginia. There is some evidence that John's son Robert, and William's son Alexander, came to Kentucky as early as 1781 to locate and claim land. The third brother, Lanty, would eventually settle in eastern Tennessee.

In Kentucky John Armstrong continued his militia service, and in 1790 he narrowly escaped death during an encounter with Indians that killed 22 of his men. This service entitled him to additional land warrants in Lincoln and Jefferson Counties in Kentucky.

John Armstrong was a founding member of New Providence Presbyterian Church, which was originally located at the current site of New Providence Cemetery. The founders are honored by a plaque on the front of the current church building in Mercer County that reads:

"Erected in Honor of the Pioneer Fathers
James McAfee George McAfee Robert McAfee Samuel McAfee
James McCoun James McCoun, Jr. John Armstrong Wm. Armstrong
James Buchanan John Lyon John McGee George McCoun"

John and Priscilla were not buried in New Providence Cemetery but in a family cemetery next to their Mercer County home near the McAfee community. Although four generations of Armstrongs occupied this home, it passed out of Armstrong hands in 1887. The current farm house is the result of additions and modifications to the original structure. The cemetery is no longer recognizable although a group of trees on the current property suggests its location.

CORRECTION: A previous record for John Armstrong noted a first wife, Catherine McDonald, the sister of Priscilla McDonald. This was based on the mention of "Catherine Armstrong" in the will of Bryan McDonald II, the father of these sisters. It now appears that Catherine was married to a different man named John Armstrong. Records suggest that this "other" John Armstrong was born in Ireland and died in Georgia.

More About JOHN ARMSTRONG:
Brothers: William Armstrong and Lanty Armstrong
Father: William Armstrong of Dumfrieshire, Scotland. There is one record that suggests he did migrate to Catawba Creek Virginia.
Mother: Susanna Blythe

More About PRISCILLA MCDONALD:
Children: A genealogical record prepared by great-grandson Rev. Samuel Lanty McAfee identified Priscilla as the mother of John Armstrong's ten children.
Father: Bryan McDonald of Augusta Count VA. She was identified as "daughter Prisla" in his will.
Mother: Identified as "Catherine" in the will of Bryan McDonald.

Children: No known children.
Property: No known property, although will of John Armstrong says, "I give and bequeath unto my son Alexander...the 200 acres of land which he sold to Samuel McAfee, considering that as his proportion of my real or landed estate."